1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to removal of particles from a substrate and more particularly to removal of at least one particle from a metal layer deposited on a substrate using an acid.
2. Description of Related Art
Integrated circuits are made up of literally millions of active devices formed in or on a silicon substrate or well. The active devices that are initially isolated from one another are later connected together to form functional circuits and components. The devices are interconnected together through the use of well known multilevel interconnections. A cross-sectional illustration of a typical multilevel interconnection structure 10 is shown in FIG. 1. Interconnection structures normally have a first layer of metallization, an interconnection layer 12 (typically aluminum alloys with up to 3% copper), a second level of metallization 14, and sometimes a third or even fourth level of metallization. Interlevel dielectrics 16 (ILDs), such as doped and undoped silicon dioxide (SiO2), are used to electrically isolate the different levels of metallization in silicon substrate or well 18. The electrical connections between different interconnection levels are made through the use of metallized vias 11 formed in ILD 16. In a similar manner, metal contacts 22 are used -to form electrical connections between interconnection levels and devices formed in well 18. The metal vias 11 and contacts 22, hereinafter being collectively referred to as xe2x80x9cviasxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cplugsxe2x80x9d, are generally filled with tungsten 14 and generally employ an adhesion layer 16 such as TiN. Adhesion layer 16 acts as an adhesion layer for the tungsten metal layer 14 which is known to adhere poorly to SiO2. At the contact level, the adhesion layer acts as a diffusion barrier to prevent W and Si from reacting.
In one process, metallized vias or contacts are formed by a blanket tungsten deposition and a chemical mechanical polish (CMP) process. In a typical process, via holes 23 are etched through an ILD 24 to interconnection lines or a semiconductor substrate 26 formed below. Next, a thin adhesion layer 28, such as TiN, is generally formed over ILD 24 and into via hole 23, as shown in FIG. 2b. Next, a conformal tungsten film 29 is blanket deposited over the adhesion layer and into the via hole 23. The deposition is continued until the via hole 23 is completely filled with tungsten. Next, the metal films formed on the top surface of ILD 24 are removed by CMP, thereby forming metal vias or plugs 28.
In a typical CMP process as shown in FIG. 2c, the substrate or wafer 30 is placed face-down on a polishing pad 32 which is fixedly attached to a rotatable platen 34. In this way, the thin film of a metal layer to be polished (i.e., tungsten film 29) is placed in direct contact with pad 32. A carrier 36 is used to apply a downward pressure F1 against the backside of substrate 30. During the polishing process, pad 32 and platen 34 are rotated while a downward force is placed on substrate 30 by carrier 36. An abrasive and chemically reactive solution, commonly referred to as xe2x80x9cslurryxe2x80x9d 35 is introduced onto pad 32 during polishing. Slurries generally include an abrasive material such as alumina or silica. The slurry initiates the polishing process by chemically reacting with the film being polished. The polishing process is facilitated by the rotational movement of pad 32 relative to wafer 30 as slurry is provided to the wafer/pad interface. Polishing is continued in this manner until all of the film on the insulator is removed.
After the polishing process, the substrate is then rinsed with a solution such as deionized water. By rinsing the substrate, particles from the slurry are removed from the metallized layer.
Conventional rinsing methods include using a double sided scrubber using deionized water for removing particles present from the CMP from a metallized layer. However, using deionized water generally does not remove all of the particles. Another conventional method is a xe2x80x9cmagasonicxe2x80x9d bath which involves high frequency vibration in which particles are shaken off the substrate. This method also leaves particles on the metal layer.
Removing foreign particles from a substrate that is used in integrated circuits is known in the art. One known method involves introducing a slurry over a substrate and polishing the substrate. The substrate is then rinsed with deionized water. A scrubber then cleans the substrate. However, this method is problematic because it is unable to remove the particles to a nondetectable level. FIG. 8 shows that a substrate using a conventional method such as that which is described above leaves a large quantity of defects on the substrate. Particles on a substrate may affect the electrical conductivity between the various layers of the interconnect within an integrated circuit and cause catastrophic failures upon further processing. Accordingly, it is desirable to have a method and an apparatus wherein particles are removed from a substrate to a nondetectable level of particles without affecting adhesion or the integrity of the post-polish metal layer surface.
A metal layer is cleaned by introducing an acid onto the metal layer.